A Woman on her own Path: Shelly Futch Anderson

Arts and Style profile on Shelly Futch Anderson.

As an artist, Shelley Futch Anderson doesn't think she fits into the Bend art scene. She's been involved with PoetHouse Art, but has a few years on most of the artists there. On the other side of the spectrum, her work has a more contemporary feel than that of her peers. Anderson creates oil paintings with a conscience and thanks to her background in commercial graphic design has begun incorporating another layer into her art.

Her latest series features an oil painting behind dye sublimation on chiffon. What does that mean exactly? In front of the painting on a sturdy frame made by her husband Pauly, also an artist who headed up the snow sculpting at WinterFest, hangs a piece of fabric with an image print on it. The combination creates a multidimensional piece of art, unlike anything other local artists are currently doing.

The inspiration for Anderson's most recent series stems from a project she did for Santa Cruz Surf during her years in the Bay Area. The company wanted a large window display and Anderson came up with the idea of printing images of the team surf riders on fabric and hanging it in front of the company's logo. She went on to do many more window displays, and most importantly, the varied printing process contributed to her personal art.

Anderson hasn't quit her day job, and by trade she's a self-taught graphic designer. Currently, she operates Digital Illustration Graphics, with most of her clients being in the Bay Area. Additionally, she teaches at Central Oregon Community College, where she has been a strong advocate for the creation of a graphic design major, and teaches online for the Academy of Art in San Francisco.

While Anderson's art may not quite fit in with the traditional Bend arts scene, her lifestyle, on the other hand, is quite Bend. Anderson, who originally hails from Aspen, Colorado, moved to Bend with her husband two and a half years ago from San Francisco. The couple came to Central Oregon, as most people do, for the lifestyle. The Andersons are avid mountain bikers, snowboarders, rock climbers and they do plenty of yoga.

"Bend is a good hybrid between California and Colorado," says Anderson.

When asked about her personal style, Anderson laughs it off and comes back with, "What do aging punk rockers wear?" Most of the time she'll be found in yoga pants because she's likely on her way to a Bikram class or you'll see her in a bicycle helmet. Anderson has a theory that no one in Bend knows what anyone really looks like due to the fact that most of our time is spent wearing bike helmets or ski goggles.

Moving to Bend has been incredibly beneficial for Anderson as an artist. Before coming here, she didn't have much time for her personal art because she worked too many jobs. But since arriving, she's been able to set boundaries in order to make time for the different aspects of her life - self, family and art.